There is a real sense in which this decay that leads to death is unnatural for those made in the image and likeness of God. We are making amazing strides in understanding wellness and longevity (one of the largest industries in the world today) and there are many elements of that progress that actually reflect good stewardship and a common grace from God.

And … (that most important of theological words)

Decline and death awaits us all. 

Our lives are filled with millions of moment by moment decisions which really boil down to only two choices repeated over and over again. Which will you choose?

When the way forward is shrouded in fog and mist and the road ahead is unclear and uncertain. Remember, there is a way through to the other side.

Life - and especially the life of faith - is like a walk, a really long one. There are seasons where the pace is high, or when the incline feels impossibly steep, and there are times when the road is flat and wide and the pace is easy and steady. There are also seasons when it feels like you are injured and it takes all of your energy to just put one foot in front of the other. But still, we walk.

Friends, this Christmas season, as we rightly contemplate the vulnerability and humility of Jesus as a baby, let us also remember that the baby grew up, and that this Jesus never saw Himself as above or beyond the regular rites of passage and seasons of development that it takes to become an adult, and that He went through it all in obedience and humility. 

Friends, I know that some of you have tears right now that you wish you didn’t have to shed. But … don’t waste them. It is my experience that most often it is those who have to look through the most tears who get the clearest view of ultimate reality, of empty tombs, of gardeners who are kings, of angelic beings journeying with us on our rocky road home.

So, the question - which I had to answer for myself - and that I am asking you to consider now is … how much time, and energy, and emotion, and resource are you spending in pursuit of things that the world tells you are admirable but that God says are monstrous? Do we believe Him when He says that life is not made up of the abundance of our possessions, and that it is impossible to love both God and money? Or are we content to rationalize His commands away down into something that we can accommodate in our own current lives without causing too much disruption? Maybe the things that you strive towards are actually things that take you away from the life of flourishing that Christ has for you!

Beloved friends, fellow sojourners … if you are sick with sin, then please run to the great physician and confess to Him your great need.  We will never be a community without sin, but let’s live with the freedom of people who have no need for secrets.

While we wait, life can be so brutal.While we wait, life can be so beautiful.And the one doesn’t cancel out or nullify the other.

God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. How long?

How long will this brutality last? How long until the land where you have shown your covenant faithfulness to a people over millenia will get to experience your peace, your presence, your mercy?